2007/08 Concert Season
8PM, Cabell Hall Auditorium, University of Virginia
| Oct 9, 2007 |
CHRISTIAN GERHAHER, baritone, with GEROLD HUBER, piano |
Underwriter: Virginia National Bank
Program
| Schubert | Die schöne Müllerin |
Artist Biography
CHRISTIAN GERHAHER, Baritone
In 1998 baritone Christian Gerhaher won the Prix International Pro Musicis in Paris/New York and subsequently debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Schubertiade Feldkirch. He has since appeared in all major lied centers such as Wigmore Hall, Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna and performed at such renowned festivals as Schwetzinger Festspiele, Rheingau Musik Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Edinburgh Festival and the Lucerne Festival.
Mr. Gerhaher returns to the US during the 2006/07 to make his Chicago Symphony debut in the Brahms Requiem led by Kent Nagano. Orchestral appearances in Europe include the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle for Henze’s Flos der Medusa, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Musikverein in Vienna, Schumann’s Faust Scenes in Leipzig with Fabio Luisi, Rossini arias and duets with the Stuttgart Philharmonic led by Gabriel Feltz, the Brahms Requiem with the Munich Philharmonic and Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Symphoniker led by Vladimir Fedoseyev, and the Britten War Requiem with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Mististlav Rostropovich.
Among his numerous recital dates include a return to Wigmore Hall in London and two recitals at the Musikverein in Vienna. Mr. Gerhaher debuts the role of Wolfram in Tannhauser in Frankfurt, and joins staged performances of the Bach’s St. John’s Passion at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
The 2005/06 season included Schubert’s Alfonso und Estralla with Nicholas Harnoncourt and the Berlin Philharmonic; Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Harnoncourt and the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra in Munich; Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the NDR Radio Philharmonic and Lothar Zagrosek and with the WDR Philharmonic led by Eliahu Inbal; Bach’s Kreuzstabkantate with the Dresden Staatskapelle led by Fabio Luisi; Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with the Munich Philharmonic; Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Sweden with Herbert Blomstedt, in Sao Paulo with John Neshling, and Prague with Helmuth Rilling; the Britten War Requiem in Moscow with the Russian National Philharmonic led by James Conlon; Haydn’s Creation with the Philharmonia Orchestra under András Schiff and on tour with Concentus Musicus, and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with the Hallé Orchestra and Mark Elder. In the United States, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion served as his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst, and his debut with the National Symphony led by Helmuth Rilling. Recitals included Wigmore Hall, Madrid, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Bonn, and Frankfurt, among others. During the summer of 2006 he sang Papageno in a new production of Die Zauberflöte for the Salzburg Festival’s celebration of Mozart’s 250th birthday, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
Milestones of his concert career include his collaborations with Helmuth Rilling and the Bachakademie Stuttgart, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Neville Marriner, Philippe Herreweghe, Heinz Holliger and Trevor Pinnock, and early career debuts with the Vienna and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2003 he appeared with Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana under Riccardo Muti, with whom he repeated this piece at the Vienna Philharmonic in May 2004. He also performed and recorded this work with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sir Simon Rattle which was released on EMI. Also with the Berlin Philharmonic he performed the Britten War Requiem under Donald Runnicles, which was repeated at the Edinburgh Festival, and he made his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Nikolaus Harnoncourt with Dvorak’s Biblical Songs.
As a member of the Stadttheater Würzburg from 1998 to 2000, he has performed in Thomas Hengelbrock’s production of Così fan tutte , the award-winning production of Weber’s Der Freischütz wit h Capella Coloniensis, and Papageno in Achim Freyer’s staging of Die Zauberflöte, in which he was celebrated as a “sensation”. He resumed this role at both the Strasbourg Opera and at Gérard Mortier’s Ruhr-Triennale. Other operatic appearances have included Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Strasbourg Opera, as well as at the Wiener Klangbogen Festival. In the spring of 2005 he took on the title role of Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Frankfurt Opera and received rave reviews.
An exc lusive recording artist with RCA Red Seal, Mr. Gerhaher’s first disc was a highly acclaimed recording of Schumann’s Dichterliebe and selected songs. His prior solo disc recording have also been released by BMG labels. For Arte Nova, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber recorded Schubert’s Winterreise , Die schöne Müllerin and Schwanengesang – also available as a three-disc set. Other recordings include Schubert’s Gesänge des Harfners , Brahms’ Vier ernste Gesänge and Frank Martin’s Jedermann-Monologe as well as Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Kindertotenlieder. For Deutsche Harmonia Mundi Mr. Gerhaher recorded Weber’s Freischütz with the Capella Colonienis of the WDR conducted by Bruno Weil and Haydn’s Creation under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. While still a student of Paul Kuen and Raimund Grumbach in Munich, Christian Gerhaher was a member of the Opera School of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater. Together with his regular piano partner Gerold Huber he took part in Helmut Deutsch’s lied class and participated in master classes given by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Inge Borkh. In the meantime Christian Gerhaher is professor himself at the Musikhochschule in Munich and together with Gerold Huber he is setting the stan dards for lied interpretation: Their recording of Schubert’s Winterreise was awarded the Echo Klassik 2002 – the “Oscar” of the German recording industry – and, by the most important Japanese music magazine, the Record Geijutsu Magazine Award. Their CD of Die Schöne Müllerin (Arte Nova) was awarded the Echo Klassik 2004.
Under exclusive contract with RCA Red Seal, Mr. Gerhaher’s latest disc, Abendbilder songs of Franz Schubert, with pianist Gerold Huber was named the best solo vocal recording of 2006 by Gramophone Magazine.
GEROLD HUBER, Pianist
As a scholarship holder, German pianist Gerold Huber studied piano with Friedemann Berger and lied interpretation with Helmut Deutsch at the Musikhochschule in Munich and attended Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s lied classes in Berlin. 1998 he was awarded the Prix International Pro Musicis in Paris/New York together with baritone Christian Gerhaher that was followed by concerts in Paris and the Carnegie Hall in New York. He was a prize winner of the International Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Wettbewerb Saarbrücken in 2001.
“His sensitive interludes make you want to kneel down. The pianist uncovers the subtle network of a comedy of errors and completes the picture. Gerold Huber manages to penetrate into the deep layers of the soul.” This is the press’s enthusiastic judgement of Gerold Huber’s way of accompanying. In the role of lied pianist, he already appeared at such renowned festivals as Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and Schubertiade Vilabertran (Spain), the Schwetzinger Festspiele and the Rheingau Musik Festival. Moreover, he founded his own festival “Ernste Musik” which took place for the first time in Munich’s Nymphenburg Castle in 2006.
Gerold Huber performed at major concert halls like Philharmonie Cologne, De Singel in Antwerp, Wigmore Hall in London, Frick Collection New York and Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Besides his regular appearances with Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber also performs with Ruth Ziesak, Cornelia Kallisch, Diana Damrau and Franz Josef Selig. Furthermore he is the pianist of the vocal ensemble Liedertafel, consisting of James Taylor, Christian Elsner, Michael Volle and Franz-Josef Selig, and he also performed with the Artemis Quartet.
His solo activities and recordings often center around the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. He has performed in Munich, Regensburg and at the Théâtre Municipal de Romains in France, at the Festival Kultursommer Kassel and at the New Zealand Festival in Wellington.
Gerold Huber is a regular guest of broadcasting companies for live and studio recordings. For Arte Nova, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber have recorded all Schubert cycles. Other CDs with songs of Brahms and Martin have been released. For the label RCA Red Seal the duo recently published a CD with Schubert songs titled Abendbilder, which was honored with the Gramophone Award for Best Solo Vocal Recording 2006.